AUVs have become a cost-effective alternative to deep sea manned and unmanned tethered technologies. The demand for AUVs carrying diverse payloads has increased the costs of AUVs. A trend has been to develop larger AUVs capable of carrying diverse payloads which increase the size and cost of the AUV proportionally.
In addition, releasing payloads from an AUV underwater is a difficult and expensive task. Releasing or deploying payloads from AUVs underwater has generally been done by stowing the payload inside the AUV's hull. A port in the side of the hull opens and communicates to the ocean and releases the payload. Other AUV designs have launch tubes and or docking stations mounted to the exterior of the hull. The launch tubes and docking stations tend to be much smaller compared to the AUV and thus they have minimal impact on the buoyancy of the AUV. In addition, these are very complex and expensive solutions utilized in reusable AUV applications.
In addition, it is sometimes desirable to create a stand-off distance between the AUV and the payload once the payload is released.